Dear all,
today, it is time for part 2 of my ‘Germany’ series. First part you can read here.
My first day of apprenticeship was on the 01.08.2014. I was scared to walk in especially since my German wasn’t the best and I knew that I would have to talk a lot to customers. Thankfully, my boss in the hair salon was nice and not that much older than me. It started off well but soon, it became clear that they didn’t really go along with contract. I had 39 hour week and I had to often work more than 40 hours. Which was a bummer but thankfully I had my German ‘family’ on my side. Which helped a lot.
Soon after my apprenticeship started, my school year started as well. I felt so alienated as I was the only foreigner in the class. The people did their best to accept me but it was sometimes hard to follow the classes. I still did my best, because what else I could’ve done. I cried so often and was probably ready to go home but I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to give up so easily because it would’ve been the easiest. I started taking help to help me with learning and also german language. It was one of the best things I did during those three years.
During my first year in the hair salon that I was, I noticed that I wasn’t happy so I changed the salons. Which turned out to be one of the mistakes in my life. While I (and many others) thought that this would be a good thing for me to do, it turned out that it wasn’t like that. The boss there didn’t let me do anything, I mostly was washing hair and mopped. And did hairstyles on the doll. Which wasn’t why I wanted to learn this profession. I was doing so bad mentally, to the point I wanted to give up just half a year before finishing school. With the help of my helper, Siobhan, I decided not to give up. I decided to bite my teeth together and just go through with it. There was nothing else I could do.
During my second year there, I started also living alone. It was my first ever flat here, only 26sqm but it was enough for me. Literally after a week of me living there, someone tried to break into my flat. That was an experience on it’s own. This flat was where I’ve spent the next 3 years in.
In July of 2017, on one Sunday, I had my final practical exam for a hairdresser. The one that will make or break my future. I knew that I had to give my best in order to pass it. After almost 7 hours of the exam, the two of us were standing opposite of comittee. And when we were asked do we want to hear good or bad news first, I felt dread inside of me, thinking that I didn’t pass. But then the president of comittee told us we both passed. I stood under positive shock and didn’t even know how to react. Few minutes, I started to cry, feeling how my body was finally relaxing. That night I could barely sleep, knowing that this chapter of my life has finally ended.
I already had my plane ticked booked to go back to Croatia for a longest holidays of my life; almost month and a half at home with family, just not thinking about anything. The contract for my next job was signed and I was starting that new chapter on the 1st of September. The holidays at home were exactly what I needed. I became an aunt for the second time, I went to beach quite a lot, spent time with family.
In the next chapter, I will talk about my next three years in my life and how it was to be the only woman in the IT company.
Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle,
Ana